Too many things make me go, 'What?'

MESQUITE -- There are quite a few things in life that make me stop and say, "What?"

For instance, wildlife officials want to sterilize desert tortoises.

Wait, what? Why? Aren't desert tortoises an endangered species? Isn't that the opposite of encouraging them to thrive?

Granted, the procedure is expected only for pet tortoises and the animals in the Clark County facility, but at first glance it just doesn't seem to make sense.

Another thing that made me question what is going through people's minds is the explosion of protest over a song kids sang in a school. The song is about President Obama.

OK, I know there are tons of people who literally hate the man, but if you freak out because of a song like that, then every song I sang about presidents as a kid should have had people roiling in ire, too. After all, if we can't make songs about one president then we shouldn't about any others as well, right?

Anyway, on the home front, my daughter recently made the statement that colleges won't look at her grade point average when considering whether to let her into school.

Are you serious? I don't know where she got that idea, but it took me aback for a minute. Thankfully her counselor set her straight on the issue.

One thing has been on my mind a lot recently too — all the police-related shootings in Las Vegas.

Has anyone else noticed how often someone is shot by police there? It's like they shoot first and ask questions later. What happened to Tasers? Are things really that bad in Vegas that people deserve to be shot so often?

I guess I could look at those things in life that stupefy me this way: At least I can still be shocked, surprised and left in awe by what people do.